# 2006 Big Ten men's basketball tournament

The 2006 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was played between March 9 and March 12, 2006 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the ninth annual Big Ten men's basketball tournament. For the third straight year, the top two seed met in the championship game. The championship was won by Iowa Hawkeyes who defeated Ohio State to win the championship. As a result, Iowa received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. This marked Iowa's second tournament championship in three appearances.

## Seeds

All Big Ten schools played in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season. The top five teams received a first round bye.
| Seed | School | Conference | 1st Tiebreaker | 2nd Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Ohio State | 12–4 | | |
| 2 | Iowa | 11–5 | 1–0 vs. OSU | |
| 3 | Illinois | 11–5 | 0–1 vs. OSU | |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 9–7 | 1–0 vs. Ind | |
| 5 | Indiana | 9–7 | 0–1 vs. Wis | |
| 6 | Michigan State | 8–8 | 1–1 vs. Mich | 1–1 vs. OSU |
| 7 | Michigan | 8–8 | 1–1 vs. MSU | 0–1 vs OSU |
| 8 | Penn State | 6–10 | 2–0 vs. NU | |
| 9 | Northwestern | 6–10 | 0–2 vs. PSU | |
| 10 | Minnesota | 5–11 | | |
| 11 | Purdue | 3–13 | | |

## Game summaries

* ESPN2
* Mar 9 12:00 pm
* Recap
#8 Penn State 60, #9 Northwestern 42 :
| Scoring by half: 31–21, 29–21 |||
| Pts: Geary Claxton 17 Rebs: Geary Claxton 10 Asts: Will Leiner 4 | Pts: Mohamed Hachad 16 Rebs: Tim Doyle 5 Asts: Mohamed Hachad 3 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 16,982 Referees: Ed Hightower; J.D. Collins; Sid Rodeheffer
* ESPN2
* Mar 9 2:30 pm
* Recap
#10 Minnesota 59, #7 Michigan 55 :
| Scoring by half: 23–27, 36–28 |||
| Pts: Maurice Hargrow 15 Rebs: Zach Puchtel 15 Asts: Maurice Hargrow 4 | Pts: Dion Harris 16 Rebs: Brent Petway 6 Asts: two tied with 5 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 16,982 Referees: Donnee Gray; Zelton Steed; Tom Clark
* ESPN2
* Mar 9 5:05 pm
* Recap
#6 Michigan State 70, # 11 Purdue 58 :
| Scoring by half: 31–26, 39–32 |||
| Pts: Maurice Ager 20 Rebs: Paul Davis 7 Asts: two tied with 4 | Pts: Gary Ware 20 Rebs: Matt Kiefer 7 Asts: four tied with 2 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 16,982 Referees: Mike Sanzere; Paul Janssen; Art McDonald
* ESPN
* Mar 10 12:00 pm
* Recap
#1 Ohio State 63, #8 Penn State 56 :
| Scoring by half: 24–27, 39–29 |||
| Pts: Terence Dials 13 Rebs: Terence Dials 10 Asts: four tied with 4 | Pts: Geary Claxton 18 Rebs: Geary Claxton 12 Asts: Ben Luber 9 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,730 Referees: Donnee Gray, Sid Rodeheffer; Steve Skiles
* ESPN
* Mar 10 2:30 pm
* Recap
#5 Indiana 61, Wisconsin 56 :
| Scoring by half: 15–19, 46–37 |||
| Pts: Marco Killingsworth 20 Rebs: Marco Killingsworth 12 Asts: two tied with 4 | Pts: Alando Tucker 18 Rebs: Brian Butch 9 Asts: two tied with 1 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,730 Referees: Ed Hightower; Art McDonald; Glen Mayborg
* ESPN Plus
* Mar 10 6:40 pm
* Recap
#2 Iowa 67, #10 Minnesota 57 :
| Scoring by half: 30–30, 37–27 |||
| Pts: Jeff Horner 26 Rebs: Erek Hansen 8 Asts: Jeff Horner 6 | Pts: Vincent Grier 29 Rebs: Zach Puchtel 9 Asts: two tied with 2 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,730 Referees: Mike Sanzere; J.D. Collins; Zelton Steed
* ESPN Plus
* Mar 10 9:10 pm
* Recap
#6 Michigan State 61, #3 Illinois 56 :
| Scoring by half: 36–29, 25–27 |||
| Pts: Paul Davis; Drew Neitzel 16 Rebs: Goran Suton 10 Asts: Drew Neitzel 5 | Pts: James Augustine 16 Rebs: James Augustine 15 Asts: Dee Brown 7 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,730 Referees: Ted Hillary; Paul Janssen; Dan Chrisman
* CBS
* Mar 11 1:40 pm
* Recap
#2 Iowa 53, #6 Michigan State 48 :
| Scoring by half: 25–22, 31–23 |||
| Pts: Jeff Horner 14 Rebs: two tied with 5 Asts: three tied with 2 | Pts: Maurice Ager 21 Rebs: Paul Davis 10 Asts: Drew Neitzel 6 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,730 Referees: Ed Hightower; Donnee Gray; J.D. Collins
* CBS
* Mar 11 4:05 pm
* Recap
#1 Ohio State 52, #5 Indiana 48 :
| Scoring by half: 26–25, 27–25 |||
| Pts: J.J. Sullinger 19 Rebs: J.J. Sullinger 13 Asts: James Butler 5 | Pts: Roderick Wilmont 16 Rebs: Marco Killingsworth 10 Asts: Earl Calloway 6 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,730 Referees: Ted Hillary; Mike Sanzere; Paul Janssen
* CBS
* Mar 12 3:30 pm
* Recap
#2 Iowa 67, #1 Ohio State 60 :
| Scoring by half: 26–25, 27–25 |||
| Pts: Jeff Horner 16 Rebs: two tied with 2 Asts: Jeff Horner 10 | Pts: Jamar Butler 19 Rebs: J.J. Sullinger 7 Asts: Jamar Butler 6 |
* Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 17,591 Referees: Ed Hightwoer; Ted Hillary; Donnee Gray

## Bracket

| Opening Round March 9 | Opening Round March 9 | Opening Round March 9 | Quarterfinals March 10 | Quarterfinals March 10 | Quarterfinals March 10 | Semifinals March 11 | Semifinals March 11 | Semifinals March 11 | Championship March 12 | Championship March 12 | Championship March 12 |
| | | | 1 | #7 Ohio State | 63 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Penn State | 60 | 8 | Penn State | 56 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northwestern | 42 | | | | 1 | #7 Ohio State | 52 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Indiana | 51 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Wisconsin | 56 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Indiana | 61 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | #7 Ohio State | 60 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | #20 Iowa | 67 |
| | | | 2 | #20 Iowa | 67 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Michigan | 55 | 10 | Minnesota | 57 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Minnesota | 59 | | | | 2 | #20 Iowa | 53 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Michigan State | 48 | | | |
| | | | 3 | #9 Illinois | 56 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan State | 70 | 6 | Michigan State | 61 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Purdue | 58 | | | | | | | | | |

## All-Tournament Team

* Jeff Horner, Iowa – Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player
* Maurice Ager, Michigan State
* Greg Brunner, Iowa
* Jamar Butler, Ohio State
* J. J. Sullinger, Ohio State
Source: